Internal combustion engine powered flying toys



Nov. 11; 1969 J. E. TRODQLEN, JR 3,477,168

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE POWERED FLYING TOYS Filed March 20, 1967 uur-mullnlllui mum i F I 1 r I mvemon i v James E. Trodgfle M may United States Patent M 3,477,168 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE POWERED FLYING TOYS James E. Trodglen, Jr., P.0. Box 15754,

Tampa, Fla. 33614 Filed Mar. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 624,431

Int. Cl. A63h 27/12 US. Cl. 46-75 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus including an annular body having a relatively thick central portion which tapers outwardly to a relatively thin outer edge and with the central portion having a generally cylindrical duct extending entirely therethrough substantially along the vertical axis. The upper portion flares upwardly and outwardly from the generally cylindrical portion to the upper surface of the body and a motor is mounted wherein said duct with a drive shaft having a propeller mounted thereon for creating lift for said body.

My invention relates to internal combustion engine powered toys, and more particularly to a flying toy.

It is an object of my invention to provide a free flight toy aircraft, which will closely resemble the unidentified flying objects, commonly referred to as flying saucers, in both appearance and also in observed flight characteristics.

It is a further object of the present invention, to provide a flying toy which is driven upwardly by means of a miniature internal combustion engine and which, after the engine fuel has been consumed, the aircraft will descend to earth by gliding, after the manner of a thrown discus.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a toy aircraft having motor driven counter rotating propeller blades positioned centrally within a circular duct incorporated in the structure of an annular shaped wing, made of plastic foam.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flying toy of the character described, constructed of light weight foam plastic, because of its excellent impact resistance qualities, form stability, relative light weight per unit volume, and low cost.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a free flight toy that will be safe for children to play with, a toy that will not break windows or cause any appreciable damage in connection with said free flight.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toy aircraft that will have substantial stability in flight, due to the stabilizing effect of the gyroscopic forces developed as a result of rotation of the entire annular wing, counter to the rotation of the upper and main propeller blade.

A further object is to provide a flying toy of the type described, having a centrally disposed fuel tank, to facilitate the feeding of fuel to the engine. And furthermore a flying toy in which the consumption of fuel will not adversely affect its balance while in flight.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a flying toy of the character, described, having a toy motor, the crankshaft of which is disposed vertically and drives the upper propeller, while the lower propeller, upon which the engine is mounted, rotates oppositely, driven by counter rotational torque.

It is among the further objects of the invention to provide an interesting flying saucer toy, which is simple and economical to manufacture and simply to operate while at the same time providing unusual and intriguing flight 3 ,477,168 Patented Nov. 11, 1969 characteristics, such as, vertical takeoff, hovering motronless in still air, and when the vertical axis is tilted away from the vertical by air currents, to fly horizontally in the direction of tilt.

Certain variations of the embodiment and further important objects of my invention will become apparent to persons familiar with the general art, upon inspecting the detailed specification that follows and the references therein to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view of the mid-portion of the toy, taken substantially along line 11 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing a toy constructed according to the present invention.

Like characters of reference are used throughout the following specification and the accompanying drawings to designate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the drawings, this flying saucer toy comprises an annular wing 3 of a suitable diameter and thickness, said thickness tapering outwardly from its maximum adjacent to the center of the toy, to a minimum ending in a sharply defined outer edge 4 extending entirely around the circumference of said annular wing 3 as seen in FIG. 1. Said annular wing 3 may be formed of thin aluminum or molded plastic, upper and lower halves, but preferably molded of solid foam plastic, because of its many good qualities for this application such as, light weight, low cost, and ease of shaping in manufacture. Said annular wing 3 may be painted or otherwise coated with a silver colored metallic coating, to further the impression of a real flying saucer.

Said annular wing is provided with a central vertically directed duct 5 the diameter of which flares outwardly, as shown in both views, adjacent to its upper rim 6, said duct 5 may be molded separately of a tough plastic and assembled to annular wing 3 by a force fit downwardly into a circular opening provided in the center of said annular wing 23, a suitable glue may be used here to prevent the two parts from separating. Said duct 5 if molded of a tough plastic, may have the lower propeller 7 molded at the same time and being a part of said duct 5, said lower propeller 7 having four blades that are spaced at degree intervals around the motor mount, and extending horizontally to be connected at their tips 17 to the inside lower edge 18 of said central vertically directed circular duct 5, the upper edge 6 of which flares outwardly, substantially increasing its diameter, to insure the smooth flow of air inducted over the upper surface 19 of the annular wing 3. Said lower propeller 7 is provided with said central motor mount pad 8 and motor mounting screw holes 9 to fit mounting screws 10 which secure toy motor 11 to pad 8 centrally within duct 5 as shown in both views.

The structure of toy motor 11 is substantially conventional and accordingly need not be described in detail in this application, except that said motor 11 should be the type with fuel tank 12 secured to the rear of the crankcase 13 thus situating the fuel supply in an all important central location for two very good reasons, one being that centrifugal force may prevent fuel from feeding to the motor 11 if the tank 12 were placed in any oif center position. Secondly, the consumption of fuel in flight would seriously affect the dynamic balance of the toy aircraft, if it were not for the tank 12 being mounted centrally.

An upper main propeller 14 of suitable size, is mounted on the drive shaft of toy motor 11 and is driven at high speed in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2. Toy model airplane motors normally run at speeds in excess of 10,000 r.p.m. and may be counted upon to develop suflicient counter rotational torque to spin the annular wing 3 in the direction opposite to that of the upper propeller 14 and do so at considerable rpm, the direction of said spinning indicated by the outside arrows in FIG. 2.

This rotation of annular wing 3 about its vertical axis produces important gyroscopic forces that serve to stabilize the attitude of my toy flying saucer, while in powered as well as unpowered flight.

A fuel control valve 15 is provided as illustrated in FIG. 1 by means of which the richness of the fuel mixture supplied to the motor 11, might be manually adjusted prior to flight.

A means is provided to statically or dynamically balance this toy during the manufacture, by the addition of suitable weight, such as lead shot 16 approximately located as shown in FIG. 1, thus balancing the offset of the engine cylinder.

In operation, the gas tank 12 is supplied with a little fuel and the toy motor is started. Adjust the fuel mixture by fuel control 15 under the toy flying saucer, until the motor 11 is performing at maximum power, the main propeller 14 is now inducting a stream of air downwardly through the duct thus lowering the air pressure acting on said upper surface 19 while increasing the air pressure under the lower surface 20, the two combined producing a net gain in the overall lift necessary for flight.

Then, either release the toy aircraft from your hands, or let it takeoff vertically from the ground. The instant that the toy becomes airborne it will begin to spin, then gyroscopic forces will stabilize and control the flight. The toy aircraft will rise vertically and the wind currents will carry it along simulating directed flight. After the fuel is exhausted, the toy flying saucer still spinning by inertia, will glide back down for a landing, after the manner of a thrown discus. Careful adjustment of the engine speed to somewhat less than full power will cause the toy flying saucer to hover realistically several feet above the ground.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art after a careful study hereof. All such, properly within the basic spirit and scope of the present invention, are intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as if specifically described, illustrated and claimed herein.

The exact compositions, configurations, constructions, relative positionings, and cooperative relationships of the various component parts of the present invention are not critical, and can be modified substantially within the spirit of the present invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A flying toy of the saucer type comprising a wing with upper and lower annular surfaces, said wing including a relatively thick central portion which tapers radially outwardly to a relatively thin outer edge, said central portion having a duct with a generally cylindrical portion extending upwardly from the lower surface substantially entirely through said wing along the vertical axis thereof, the upper portion of said duct flaring upwardly and outwardly from said cylindrical portion to said upper surface to facilitate the smooth flow of air into said duct, a motor mount having multiple radial arms fixed to the lower portion of said wing within said duct, motor means fixed to said motor mount and having a drive shaft disposed generally along the vertical axis of said duct, and propeller means mounted on said drive shaft within said duct, whereby when said motor means is operated said propeller will induct a stream of air downwardly through said duct to lower the air pressure acting on the upper surface of said wing and increase the air pressure upon the lower surface to provide lift and the torque from said motor means will produce rotation of said wing in a direction opposite the rotation of said propeller means, said radial arms of said motor mount include propeller blades pitched opposite to the pitch of said propeller means on said drive shaft, thereby assisting in producing counter rotation of said wing.

2. The structure of claim 1 including fuel tank means located generally along the vertical axis of said duct.

3. The structure of claim 1 including means within said wing for counterbalancing offset portions of said motor means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1960 Apostolescu 46-75 8/ 1960 McRoskey 46-75 

